Word Origin & History

bottle mid-14c., originally of leather, from O.Fr. boteille (12c., Mod.Fr. bouteille), from V.L. butticula, dim. of L.L. buttis "a cask," which is perhaps from Gk. The bottle, figurative for "liquor," is from 17c. The verb is first recorded 1640s. Related: Bottled; bottling.